Inter Win Another Totally Awesome, Totally Meaningless Trophy

Inter are two-for-two in domestic preseason tournaments this year after taking last night’s TIM Cup with wins over Milan and Juventus, the latter in penalty kicks. (Notice I said “domestic” — that allows me to ignore that whole Emirates Cup thing in England, which didn’t go quite so well.)

The day’s first match featured a strong Juve side against an Inter team made up of second-choice players and Copa America returnees with about a week of training under their belt. Though the Bianconeri reportedly created the bulk of the chances, neither team could finish legally (Inter had a goal ruled out for offside) and the match went to penalties, which saw Inter come out on top 5-4. In in the second match, Juve fell 1-0 to Milan on a goal by Alberto Gilardino (!). As with the first game, Juve reportedly started the brighter, but were again unable to finish, and Milan — whose team consists mostly of first-team players — gradually took control.

That result set up a Milan derby final, which sounds fantastically intense but, much like the Juve-Inter grudge match in the Birra Moretti Trophy, the battle was carried out by two teams of mostly youth and second (and third) string players, so it was hard for the fans to get into too big of a rage about the whole thing. Despite being short on big names, though, it sounds like the match was an entertaining one, with Yoann Gourcuff playing well for Milan, and third-string keeper Paolo Orlandoni making a series of impressive saves for Inter. In the end, the match was decided by a great goal from Alvaro Recoba, who could well have been making his final appearance for Inter. Damn him for doing something awesome and reminding everyone what he’s capable of, just before he takes his unpredictable magic elsewhere.

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Category: AC Milan, Inter, Juventus, Results, Serie A